PRESS RELEASE
Maryland Taxpayers
Association, INC.
7831 Woodmont
Avenue, Suite 395
Bethesda, Maryland 20814
President's Office: 301-946-2918. Fax: 301-942-5341
president@mdtaxes.org
Citizens Coalition Vows
to Continue Fight
Against State Power Grab
Thursday, May 31, 2001 (Annapolis,
MD) - Maryland Citizens for Property Rights, the statewide coalition
opposing the expansion of the Maryland State Development Corporation (MEDCO),
today turned in the first batch of completed petitions to the Maryland
Secretary of State, after winning strong support from the state chapter
of the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) for the petition
drive and for further oversight of MEDCO.
Under Maryland law, the coalition
was required to collect 46,128 signatures on its petition by June 30,
with the first third of that number due today.
"We believe we exceeded
the legally required number of signatures by several thousand," said
Kenneth R. Timmerman, President of the Maryland Taxpayers Association
and chairman of the state-wide petition drive. Maryland CPR turned in
a total of 20,819 signatures: 10,785 signatures calling for a referendum
of Senate Bill 486, and 10,034 signatures for the identical House version
of the bill, HB 790.
When Maryland CPR first launched
the petition drive, on April 9, 2001, the coalition's lawyers were instructed
by the State Board of Elections to petition HB 790, the House version
of the bill. Accordingly, Maryland CPR printed up more than 10,000 petition
sheets and distributed them to volunteers across the state.
Two weeks later, on April 20,
Governor Glendening signed Senate Bill 486. On April 26, in response to
our request for guidance on how to proceed, Assistant State Attorney General
Judith A. Armold communicated the following to us in writing:
"Early today, April 25,
I spoke to Bob Zarnoch, the Assistant Attorney General who acts as Counsel
to the General Assembly, and he made me aware that it was actually SB
486 that the Governor signed, and that there was a possibility that the
Governor might also sign HB 790, in which case there would be a legal
question about whether a referendum petition addressed to one of the companion
bills would cover the other.
"... For these reasons,
consensus was reached that it would be the most legally defensible position
to use separate petitions to refer SB 486 and HB 790."
Maryland CPR lost much precious
time in the already short signature-gathering period due to this legal
uncertainty, promoted by the Governor's office. "We believe this
was a conscious effort on the part of the Governor to frustrate our civil
rights," Timmerman said.
On May 17 - just two weeks
before the deadline for the first 1/3 of petition signatures - Governor
Glendening vetoed HB 790 "as duplicative."
"By his veto, Governor
Glendening acknowledged that the Senate and House versions of the MEDCO
expansion bill were identical," Timmerman said. "Therefore,
we are demanding that the Governor instruct the Attorney General and the
State Board of Elections to accept all petitions gathered by our coalition
for either bill, and count the combined total of signatures. This is the
only democratic thing for the Governor to do."
The MarylandCPR.org website
was hit by a hacker attack the night of May 26-27 that completely wiped
out all files, including electronic copies of the petition. "Clearly
this was a malicious hacker attack aimed at slowing down our petition
effort," said Timmerman. "We have informed the FBI and the state
and local police, who have launched a criminal investigation. They will
find this hacker. We will insist that he be prosecuted to the full extent
of the law."
Regardless of the determination
by the Maryland Secretary of State, Maryland CPR will continue to fight
the expansion of MEDCO, Timmerman vowed, "in the courts, in the legislature,
and in the streets. We will conduct oversight of MEDCO's activities, and
provide the press and the public with evidence of what we believe is MEDCO's
illegal activities."
MCPR member Charles Birney
has already filed one lawsuit against MEDCO, arguing that under the Maryland
Constitution MEDCO has forfeited its tax exempt status, because it went
to the legislature to change its organizing statute. Under the Constitution,
a change in statute requires that the Corporation lose tax exempt privileges
and operate as any commercial, for-profit entity.
On May 30, the Maryland chapter
of the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) announced
that a statewide survey of its members "found that more than 80 percent
of members believe MEDCO should not be allowed to develop a new business
project that directly competes with a similar private business existing
in the community. Members also believe that MEDCO should not have eminent
domain powers."
More information on the NFIB
statement, call Ellen Valentino: 410-267-0355 or Matthew Latimer: 202-554-9000.
For information on the lawsuit against MEDCO see the Maryland Taxpayers
Association website, www.mdtaxes.org.
For interviews, information or petitions please call:
- Kenneth R. Timmerman (MTA
President): 301-946-2918 or Cell: 301-379-6756
- Janice Hundt (Citizens for Property Rights): 410-828-6202
- Noel Levy (Citizens for Property Rights) 410-363-9040
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